Apparatus for testing fusion sealed ampoules



March 19, 1946. FL L WELLS 2,396,729?

APPARATUS FOR TESTING FUSION SEALED AMPOULES Original Filed Sept. 9, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l Rane X649? CWM INVENTORS Pnl. PH L WELLS ATTORNEY Marh19,1949. R, WELLSA 2,396,729

APPARATUS FOR TESTING FUSION SEALED AMPOULES Original Filed Sept. 9, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY HLPH ..WELLS 9 wf. m@

March 19, 1946. R., WELLS 2,396,729

APPARATUS FOR TESTING E USION SEALED AMPOULES Original Filed Sept. 9, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 `Iglu 5,

INVENTOR5 )a/.PH z. WELLS /ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 1e, 194e 4 l .l 2,396,729'.

AYPABATUS FR TESTING FUSION SEALED Ralph l... Wells, Stelton, N. .,l., assignor to .lohnson & Johnson, a corporation oi New .lersey Original application September 9, 1943, Serial No. 501,631. Divided and this applicationpril il, 1945, Serial No. 587,769

3 Claims. (4CH. i3-12) This invention relates to novel machines for plurality of ampoules to be sealed. Also carried sealing and testing vitreous ampoules and more on said'support are a plurality of arne jets particularly to novel machines for sealing and which rotate with said support and seal the open testing vitreous ampoules composed of glass or y ends of the ampoules. A stationary automatithe like and containing a liquid therein. 5 cally operable seal testing mechanism is located Heretofore, ampoules composed of glass or the adjacent to and beyond the Sealing Sta-OII, 170V` like, and having a liquid therein, have been exert pressure automatically on the sealed end hermetically sealed to prevent the exposure of of each ampoule after sealing so that if the seal any substance in the ampoule to the outside is too thin, the same will fracture, putting the ambient. In the field of surgical sutures, the 1o operator immediately on notice that the particusealed ampoule contains therein, a suture imlar ame for sealing this ampoule should be mersed in a liquid which preserves the suture checked. When the seals withstand said presand maintains it in the proper exible condition. sure, they are not aiiected by said testing mech- In this particular field, the ampoules are sealed anism. The seal-fractured tubes are discarded, so that said liquid may be maintained within l5 the other are packed since they have met the test the ampule in the COUTS@ 0f tranSpOltutiOn, t0 and the operator immediately takes the neces-v prevent evaporation thereof and to maintain sary step to prevent recurrence of the thin sterile the contents thereof. sealing at that gaming-,

For some time it has heen the practice to iame- Another objct of this invention is to provide seal the ends of glass tubes Containing a 11C-luid 20 a novel apparatus-for testing a vitreous ampoule. in which are immersed surgical sutures. For this Stm another object of t purpose, machines have been employed. The ms Invention lsto pro United States Patent 2,258,408, of October 7, 1941, and issued to Frank Cczzoli, discloses a machine for that purpose. In the operation of that machine, the open ends of the ampoules, containhereinafter.. grmif 'nfsgegicuugrlgsg The invention accordingly comprises the apthe thickness of the Walls-of the ampoules variaparams embodying features of construction com' hination of elements and arrangement oi parts tions in the diameter of the ampoules, the variaau im d th f u d t n d dis tions in ametemperature in the course of an as exemp e m e .o om a e eight hours run, adjustments in the sealing losure and 'the scqpe of the mventwn Wm be ames must sometimes be made in order that the Indicated in the claims testing a sealed ampoule. n These las well as other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear seals may meet a certain specication so that the Referring to the dawmgs sealed ampoules may be transport-,ed Without Figure 1 is a u u tic view showing theA breakage at the seal in the course o1 transporta- Vanous Successivi@ Stem 0f a' Salmg and 'testing non. adjustment of the names wouid be remachine embdymg the nvenuqn- A quired when the thickness of the seals of said Figure 2 iS a fragmentary VleW ShOWmg the ampoules was below that required to provide a position 0f the test d ev as the Upper Sealed end sturdy ampoule. En the use of said machines, 40 0f @e ampoule feacflesg the Sallie for les?" the operator would not be aware of the seals Flgul'e 3 iS a VIEW Simllal' t0 Figure and ShOVYS which would not pass inspection until after a the position of the test device at its highest posilarge batch of thin sealed ampoules came on tion in the course of testing the sealed end of the of the machine and was apprized of this by the ampoulei inspector. Because of this, a large number of d5 Figure 4 1s a view similar to Figure 3 and shows "thin sealed ampoules would be made and would the fructm'ins of the sealed end ofthe ampoule have to be discarded. In addition, it. would then' When 1111s 0i insuclent strength. f become necessary for the operator to check each Figure 5 1S a 50D plan View 0f a portwn 0f iet individually in an effort to deterndne which Figure 1 and shows the testing mechamsmand of the names might require individual attention. 50 its relation with respect Vtu the ampoule beine It was in order to overcome the foregoing distestedadvantages and also to provide certain otherad- Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line vantages that the following invention was made. VI-VI 0f Figure 1. Bney, the sealing and testing machine of this Figure '7 is an enlarged sectional view taken invention comprises a rotatable support for a on line VII- VII oiFigure 5.

vide an apparatus for sealing and automatically spaced about 45 degrees apart. Each holding device I'2 includes a pair of vertically disposed rollers I3 and I4 mounted at a ilxed location on the turntable I0. Said'rollers I3 andfl4 have shafts extending through openings in turntable l0. Secured to the ends of the shafts secured to rollers I3 and I4 are gears I5 and I3 respectively. A stationary frame or, support I3 to which is secured the shaft II, has a stationary gear segment l1 secured thereto. The stationary gear I1 meshes with the gears I5 and I6 to drive the rollers I3 and I4 during rotation of the turntable III. Each holding device I2 includes also a third roller I@ located adjacent and in front of the other two rollers I3 and I4. The roller I3 is rotatably mounted on the outside end of a pivoted arm 20 having a cam follower 2| at its other end. Thearm 20 has a spring 23 which tends to maintain the roller I9 against an amp'oule located between said roller and rollers I3 and I4. The cam follower 2| engages a stationary cam 22 and is maintained in contact therewith by spring 23. located inwardly from each holding device I2 and on the radius from the center of shaft II and passing through the center of holding device I2 is an opening through turntable I through which extends a guide post 24 secured to said turntable I Il. Each post 24 guides a gas flame jet 25 carried at the outer end of an arm 26 whose inner end is pivoted to a collar 21. The collar 21 is freely mounted for at constant speed 36 whose outer end is pivoted to said block and whose inner end is free. A coiled spring 31 is located in another recess insaid block and has its lower end bearing against said arm 36 andits upper end bears against a washer 31 at the lower end of a bolt or screw 33 making threaded connection with said block. The degree of force applied to said arm 33 may be varied by raising and lowering the bolt 31. A bolt or screw 39 makes threaded connection with the block and extends upwardly to the lower face of the arm 38 and limits the extreme lower position of the arm 3E. The arm 36 extends inwardly towards the shaft II and terminates outwardly from the path of the posts 24 during rotation of the turntable, but extends inwardly as to be located above the path of the ampoules held by the holding devices I2 and preferably somewhat inside of the path of said devices I2. The inner ends of the arms 36 may have a free rotatable roller 40 composed of any desirable material, such as rubber or the like thereon.

The operation of this machine is as follows: After the motor has been started, the turntable Ill is rotating, the gas flame from jets 25 have been properly adjusted, the height of arm 36, the forceof spring 31 and the screw 39 set, the operator takes an ampoule. which may be composed of glass and having one end open, containing a` surgical suture immersed in s, liquid. This ampoule is placed in a holding device I2 as that rotation about the iixed shaft II. This collar `v 21 moves in unisonwith the turntable In by virtue of a connection of the arm 26 with a slide collar 28 on guide 24. The inner end of each arm 23 has a cam follower 29 riding on a statlonary cam 30 fixedly mounted on stationary shaft II. 0n the upper end of each post 24 is supported a grip nger mechanism, with only grip lingers 3| shown for automatically removing the excess glass in the course of sealing.

The foregoing has been illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the drawings and has been briefly described because it is not in itself the invention. A detailed description and illustration of a sealing machine of' this type is disclosed in said Cozzoli patent.

According to this invention, a seal testingdevice 32 is mounted in a xed position. The testing device 32, as shown for the purposes of illustration, consists of an upstanding standard 33 fixedly secured to the stationary frame I8. Mounted on said standard is a three element metallic block 34 shown in detail in Figure B and in assembly in Figure 7. The block 34 is mounted on standard 33 and its vertical posi- `tion thereon may be varied by loosening the set path of travel of screw 35. Upon tightening said set screw in the opening in the side of theV block 34, it may be maintained in any desired position. .The block 34 extends inwardly towards the shaft Il and terminates a material distance outside of the the ampoules. The block 34 has a recess into which extends an elongated arm holding device passes between station H and A as the turntable rotates in the direction 0f the arrow. Upon continued rotation of the turntable I0, the flame jet 25 adjacent, this particular holding device I2 is automatically lowered and 'while the ampoule is rotating between rollers I3 and I4 while at the same time moving with turntable I0, the flame from jet 25 is applied against the upper side wall of this curs, the next succeeding holding device l2 moves between said stations H and A and the operator places an ampoule in this holding device and in like manner, the flame from jet 25 adjacent thereto is automatically lowered and the ampoule is subjected to the same action as the previous ampoule. This particular step of ampoule insertion is repeated by the operator as the grip fingers 3l are automatically actuated to lower and grip the upper end of the excess glass of the4 ampoule whose upper part has become suciently heated so that it becomes sealed. The grip fingers 3l ,grip the excess glass and are automatically raised to remove the same therefrom between stations D and E and between which stations the sealing takes place. As the turntable advances from station D, the cam 30 acting against follower 29 starts raising the jet 25 upwardly beyond the upper limit of the ampoule. As the ampoule passes the station F. the excess glass is ejected from grip fingers 3l. The seal of the ampoule which has not been in contact with the iiame from jet 25 from the station E is sufliciently cooled as it reaches station G where the seal testing device is at a xgd lol As ampoule. As this octable I0, there is `claims are intended to Speciil features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention.

the sealed ampoule reaches station G, the sealed end of the ampoule is automatically tested thereby. In the a force applied downwardly on the seal in the direction of the vertical axis of the ampoule while the ampoule is still supported by` the turntabie and moving therewith. nus action is shown in Figures 1,A 2, 3v and 14. As the ampoule` reaches station G, the outer end spring pressed arm 36 is pushed upwardly along the upper end of the seal and if the seal is of at least the desired strength, the force of the roller on theseal will not cause any fracture Athereof as shown in Figure 3, but if too thin and below the desired length, it will fracture as shown in Figure 4. l In either case thetested ampoules are carried by the rotating turntable i0 to the station H where the ampoulesare removed from the machine. By employingthis particular combination, there is provided a continuous process for sealing and testing ampoules. The operator merely feeds the ampoules into'the holding devices between stations H and A and removes the sealed and tested tubes between stations G and H. In this manner as shown, the ampoules are supplied to a .continuously rotating turntable with the ampoules being continuously maintained in a single file, spaced relationship. The ampoules travel infa xed curvilinear path in which they are' automatically sealed and thereafter are automatically subjected to a downward pressure at the seal while the ampoules are in that path, after they leave the sealing zone and while the rotation of the turntable is continued and they are supported thereon. By employing the novel combination disclosed, only those ampoules which are not effected by the testing device are packed, while those which are fractured due to thin seals are discarded and when Vthe thin seals occur the/)operator is immediately put on' notice that some correction must be made.

Since certain changes in the constructions set forth, which embody the invention, may be made without departing from its' scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the .above description. or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following cover all the generic and which as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.v v This is a division 'of my co-pending applicacourse of rotation ofthe turn-v an element positioned above said tube holding means and in position to act against a sealed glass tube in the region offits seal when the tube carriedby said tube holding means is located in a position thereunder, means for actuating said carrier to move said tube holding means in a predetermined path thereby to move said tube holding means successively from a position ahead of said element to testing position under the latter` and then past said element, said element being movable in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of said tube arriving at testing position, said element operating` upon' successive tubes to exert a compression force upon the sealed end of the respective tubes suicient to fracture the tubes if their seals are relatively weak.

2. A device for testing the strength of the seals a of glass tubes sealed by fusion comprising a movable carrier, a series of tube holding means carried thereby, means positioned above said tube holding means and in position to act against a sealed glass tube in the region of its seallwhen the tube carried by a tube holding means is posil tioried thereunder, driving means for rotating said carrier to move said tube holding means` in a predetermined curvilinear path thereby to move said tube holding means from a` position ahead of'said second mentioned means to testing position thereunder and then therepast, said second mentioned means being at a xed location in the course of rotation of said carrier and movement of said tube holding means and tubes and being automatically operable to act on each tube arriving at testing position; said second mentioned means operating upon successive f tubes to exert a compression force` upon the sealed end of the respective tubes to fracture the tubes if their seals are weak.

3. A device for testing the strength of the seals -of glass tubes sealed by fusion combining bodily means in position to react upon the sealed end non, ser. No. 501,631, med on september 9, less.

Iclaim: v

1. A device for testing the seals of glass tubes sealed by fusion comprising a movable carrier, a series of tube holding means carried thereby,

of a tube on bodily movement of the latter to a position thereunder, means for eifecting such rel'ative shifting movement between tubes in said lholdingmeans and said element'v thereby successively to ,effect transportation of tubes from an ineffective position to an effective position with respect to said element and means consequent upon said shifting movement to eifect said re-v action thereby to fracture the tube if the seal is J relatively weak, and means for varying the effective force of said movable element to suit tubes of a diierent strengthfactor.

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